Psychosocial Adaptation to Pregnancy

The fourth edition of this book updates and elaborates on the seven dimensions of maternal emotional health that have significant impact on delivery, postpartum adaptation, infant health, and early childhood development. Supported by the authors’ original research and interviews, the book provides readers with an analysis of the role of these core functions throughout pregnancy, as well as practical materials for use with pregnant clients in the form of assessment instruments and evidence-based interventions for promoting positive development. The book provides a theoretical framework with rationales for the seven psychosocial dimensions, therapeutic and counseling intervention strategies to improve adaptive development in each of the seven psychosocial dimensions, findings specific to women in diverse cultural groups, a chapter devoted to women in the military and military spouses, and discussion of salient issues of pregnancy, including physical changes, body image, intimacy, trust, and ambivalence.

The book focuses on the seven dimensions of maternal prenatal emotional health:

• Acceptance of the pregnancy.
• Motivation and preparation for motherhood.
• Relationship with husband/partner.
• Relationship with her own mother. 
• Preparation for labor.
• Sense of control in labor
• Self-Esteem and Well-Being in labor.

Psychosocial Adaptation to Pregnancy is a significant addition to the psychosocial assessment literature, a needed resource for clinical and health psychologists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, midwives, and obstetrical nurses. It is also adaptable to undergraduate and graduate courses in maternal reproductive health and obstetrical nursing. 

• psychosocial adaptation to pregnancy
• pregnancy and mental health
• maternal development
• prenatal anxiety
• stress during pregnancy
• social support in pregnancy
• prenatal and childbirth complications
• mother-infant bonding
• research on motherhood role
• research on acceptance of pregnancy
• pregnant woman's relationship to own mother
• pregnant woman's relationship to husband or partner
• preparation for labor
• fear of pain and loss of control during pregnancy
• physiology and psychology of labor pains
• paternal participation in childbirth
• use of epidural anesthesia

• University of Texas, Galveston, USA

  Regina P. Lederman

• University of Incarnate Word, San Antonio, USA

  Karen L. Weis

Regina Lederman, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas-Galveston School of Nursing and an adjunct professor in the University of Texas-Health Science Center, School of Public Health. Her research focuses on reproductive psychophysiology, perinatal health outcomes, and maternal prenatal and postnatal psychosocial adaptation. Her Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (PSEQ) and Postnatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (PPSEQ) on maternal adaptation are widely used in several health science disciplines. She has published in both nursing and medical journals, and has received NIH grants and several honors for her research.

Karen Weis, Ph.D., MSN, FAAN, is a professor and the Dunlap Endowed Chair of Research at University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas. From 2008 through 2015 she was a professor, dean, and director of research at the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and the Military Education and Training Campus. Her research has focused on maternal adaptation to pregnancy and birth outcomes within a military population. In 2009 she co-authored Psychosocial Adaptations to Pregnancy, Third Edition with Regina Lederman.

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